# LinkedIn Recommendation Examples for a Colleague or Manager

> Write a LinkedIn recommendation for a colleague, your manager or someone who reported to you: a five-part plan, sample lines by role and what to leave out.

Source: https://hidengpt.com/write/linkedin-recommendation-for-a-colleague

# A colleague asked me for a LinkedIn recommendation and I don't know what to write.

Open with the thing they do well, say how you worked together, tell one story with a result and end with the kind of role they suit. Aim for 80 to 200 words. HidenGPT's Anything format turns your notes into a draft written as you, and leaves a placeholder where a fact is missing.

Updated October 10, 2026 · by the HidenGPT team

Try it with your own details

Enter to send · Shift+Enter for a new line

## How to do it in HidenGPT

- 01 Ask your colleague two things before you write: which role they are going for, and which project they would like you to mention.
- 02 Write your notes in the main box: how you know them and for how long, one story with a number if you have one, one thing about how they work with people, and the role they want.
- 03 Pick Anything under “Use it for”; this page sets Length to Enter a word count with 150, so type 100 for a short peer note or 200 if you managed them for years.
- 04 Read the draft against your notes, cut anything you would not say to their next manager on the phone, and check with your colleague before you name a client or a figure.
- 05 On LinkedIn, open their profile, click More in the introduction section, select Recommend, fill in Relationship and Position at the time, click Next, paste the text and click Send.

[Anything](https://hidengpt.com/tools/freeform): Describe what you need; it works out the format and writes it.

## A five-part plan that fits in 150 words

A recommendation is read by strangers who skim. Give them the verdict early and one story they can remember. The word counts are a rule of thumb, not a LinkedIn rule.

1. The verdict, 10 to 25 words: what this person is unusually good at, said as a fact.
2. The context, 15 to 30 words: how you worked together, their role at the time and for how long.
3. One story, 40 to 70 words: the situation, what they did and what changed, with a number if you have one.
4. How they work with people, 15 to 30 words: one observed habit, not a list of virtues.
5. The close, 10 to 25 words: who should hire them, and for what.

Here is the example request above as a finished recommendation. It runs 113 words.

“Dana is the person I want reading a contract before anyone signs it.

We were project coordinators on the same team at a regional hospital network for three years. In 2025 she noticed we were paying two courier companies for the same lab routes. She mapped every route, took the overlap to finance and renegotiated one of the contracts, which saved about $40,000 a year.

She is also the calmest person in the room on a bad day. New coordinators went to her first, and she trained them without once making them feel slow.

If you need an operations manager who reads the fine print and keeps a team steady, talk to Dana.”

There is no “I highly recommend” and no list of adjectives. The reader learns what she is good at from what she did.

## Sample lines by relationship

Where you sat changes what you can credibly say. Write from your own seat. All names and numbers below are made up.

A colleague on another team. Say what working across the line with them was like. “I'm a backend engineer, and Lena was the product designer on our checkout team for two years. She came to every planning meeting with a prototype real users had already tried, so we rebuilt far less. Checkout drop-off fell from 31% to 22% over the redesign she led.”

Your manager. Write about what it was like to work for them, with one example. Do not grade them as if you were their boss. “Priya managed our support team of eight while I was there. She told me early that my ticket notes were too long, showed me how to fix them, and six months later put me forward to lead the night shift.”

Someone who reported to you. Readers give weight to a manager's view, so be concrete about scope and growth, with dates. “I hired Tom as a junior analyst in 2022. By 2024 he owned our weekly pricing report for 300 stores and had automated the part that used to take two of us a full Monday.”

An intern. Say what they finished in the time they had. “In ten weeks as our marketing intern, Aisha rewrote 40 product pages and set up the tracking that showed which ones sold.”

A freelancer you hired. Deadlines and catches matter most. “We hired Marco to edit our annual report on a three-week deadline. He delivered in two and flagged six figures that did not match the source tables.”

## What to cut, and what to clear with them first

Cut these, whoever wrote the draft:

- “I highly recommend her without hesitation” as the opening line. Open with the verdict as a fact and save the endorsement for the close, if you need it at all.
- “Team player”, “hard-working” and “a pleasure to work with” with nothing to back them up.
- A string of five adjectives in place of one story.
- Anything about age, health, family, religion or nationality, even kindly meant.
- Comparisons that put down other people, such as “the only competent person on that team”.
- Inside jokes and project code names a stranger cannot follow.

Before: “John is a hard-working, dedicated and passionate team player who always goes above and beyond. I highly recommend him.”

After: “John rebuilt our onboarding checklist in his first month, and new hires now get system access on day one instead of day four.”

Clear with your colleague first anything that names a client, a revenue figure, an internal system or work under a confidentiality agreement. A recommendation is public: LinkedIn's help pages say that once the person accepts it, it is visible to their network by default. If a number is sensitive, use a percentage or a rough size, such as “about a third” or “a 12-person team”.

## How recommendations work on LinkedIn, and what the Anything format does

From LinkedIn's help pages, read on 10 October 2026. You can recommend only your 1st-degree connections. The form asks for your Relationship and their Position at the time, so pick the job you actually shared. The person you recommend is notified and can accept it, dismiss it or ask you for a revision, and either of you can hide it later. You can revise or delete a recommendation you have given at any time. You can give only one recommendation per position, per member, and if either of you removes the connection, recommendations between you are withdrawn. If you get a request, you can decline it and you are not required to respond.

In HidenGPT, pick Anything and describe the recommendation in the main box. It writes in the first person, as you, and works out the format from your request. It does not invent results, names or stories: where a fact is needed and you did not give it, it leaves a bracketed placeholder such as [number] for you to fill or delete. Enter a word count aims for your number, within about 10 percent. A light red pen pass, on by default, cuts stock phrases and flags flat rhythm. On a plan, a voice built from messages you have written keeps it sounding like you and not like a template. HidenGPT writes the text only; you post it on LinkedIn yourself.

## Not the right tool if

- A recommendation for someone you barely worked with. The draft can use only what you tell it, and with no real story it comes out vague.
- A formal reference letter for a job application, with your contact details and a signature. That is a longer, private document with a different structure.
- Sending it for you. HidenGPT writes the text; you paste it into the LinkedIn form and click Send yourself.

## Other ways to do it

Writing it yourself with the five-part plan

Fifteen minutes, and nobody knows the story better than you do. A good choice when you already have the one example in mind.

Asking your colleague for the points they want covered

Common practice, and it tells you which project matters to them. Write the recommendation in your own words, not theirs.

ChatGPT or another chatbot

Fast, but expect “I highly recommend” openers and adjectives in place of a story, and check every claim against what you know.

## Questions

### How do I write a LinkedIn recommendation for a colleague?

Open with what they do unusually well, say how you worked together, tell one story with a result and close with the kind of role they suit. About 80 to 200 words is plenty.

### How long should a LinkedIn recommendation be?

Between 80 and 200 words works for most, as a rule of thumb: long enough for one real story, short enough that a stranger reads to the end. A manager writing about several years of work can go a little longer.

### How do I write a LinkedIn recommendation for my manager?

Write about what it was like to work for them, with one example: how they gave feedback, set priorities or backed you in a hard moment. Speak from the seat you were in, and do not rate them as if you were their boss.

### How do I write a recommendation for someone who reported to me?

Be specific about scope, results and growth, with dates: when you hired them, what they owned by the end and one result you can name. Readers give a manager's view extra weight, so vague praise from you costs more.

### Can I recommend someone I'm not connected with on LinkedIn?

No. LinkedIn's help page says you can write a recommendation only for your 1st-degree connections, so connect first.

### Can I edit a LinkedIn recommendation after I send it?

Yes. LinkedIn lets you revise or delete a recommendation you have given at any time, and the person you recommended can also ask you for a revision.

### Do I have to write one if a colleague asks?

No. LinkedIn says you can decline a request and are not required to respond. If you could not say anything specific, a short private message is kinder than a vague public recommendation.

### Can I try it before I pay?

Yes. You can try 2 drafts a day on the homepage without an account, which is enough for a recommendation and a second attempt. Saved history and your own voice need a plan; Pro is $3 for the first month.

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